#InspireMonday: All About Love

In 10 days, it will be Christmas! Christmas means many things to different people. For some, it is about shopping and getting great deals on stuff. For others it is about getting and receiving gifts. Yet for others, “Xmas” is simply a season of fun, games, and holidays.

What really is Christmas about? Arguably the most famous passage of Scripture lays it out for us:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV) Emphasis mine

What birthed Christmas was love. The love of God for mankind. The love of God for humanity even when we didn’t deserve it. Divinity left His throne in heaven and came to the squalor of human existence. It was all about love.

Now don’t be confused. Whilst love can greatly affect the emotional state, love is not an emotion. It is not something that is created by having sex as the term “lovemaking” suggests. You don’t even need to like (i.e. have a positive affective disposition to) someone before you love them – just ask a parent with a hopelessly troublesome child. So what is love?

I say, love is an action based on a decision to relate with all with care and affection with God as the ultimate example.

This season, choose to act in love. Deliberately think and map out your acts of love. Let the season not just be about eating, drinking, and making merry. Let it be all about love – the greatest example of love: God coming to humanity to pay the ultimate sacrifice.